K- 12 Education

Where We Are

A Harvard graduate with a B.S. in Engineering clearly has the tools to be more productive in his or her career than does a high school dropout. Likewise, the country that provides its citizens with the best education on earth, will have an advantage over all others. This advantage will be small when compared to the country who gives its citizens the second-best education, significant as compared to the country who gives its citizens the tenth-best education, and vast in comparison to the country who gives its citizens the 20th best education on earth.

Beginning in the year 2000, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) began giving assessments to 15-year olds around the world. The PISA tests are given once every three years. The last test was given in 2009, and US 15-year olds ranked 17th in reading, 23rd in science, and an abysmal 31st in math. (See Reproduced Chart from Wikipedia below.)

Programme for International Student Assessment (2009) (OECD members as of the time of the study in boldface)
Maths	Sciences	Reading
1 Shanghai, China 600	1 Shanghai, China 575	1 Shanghai, China 556
2 Singapore 562	2 Finland 554	2 South Korea 539
3 Hong Kong, China 555	3 Hong Kong, China 549	3 Finland 536
4 South Korea 546	4 Singapore 542	4 Hong Kong, China 533
5 Taiwan 543	5 Japan 539	5 Singapore 526
6 Finland 541	6 South Korea 538	6 Canada 524
7 Liechtenstein 536	7 New Zealand 532	7 New Zealand 521
8 Switzerland 534	8 Canada 529	8 Japan 520
9 Japan 529	9 Estonia 528	9 Australia 515
10 Canada 527	10 Australia 527	10 Netherlands 508
11 Netherlands 526	11 Netherlands 522	11 Belgium 506
12 Macau, China 525	12 Liechtenstein 520	12 Norway 503
13 New Zealand 519	13 Germany 520	13 Estonia 501
14 Belgium 515	14 Taiwan 520	14 Switzerland 501
15 Australia 514	15 Switzerland 517	15 Poland 500
16 Germany 513	16 United Kingdom 514	16 Iceland 500
17 Estonia 512	17 Slovenia 512	17 United States 500
18 Iceland 507	18 Macau, China 511	18 Liechtenstein 499
19 Denmark 503	19 Poland 508	19 Sweden 497
20 Slovenia 501	20 Ireland 508	20 Germany 497
21 Norway 498	21 Belgium 507	21 Ireland 496
22 France 497	22 Hungary 503	22 France 496
23 Slovakia 497	23 United States 502	23 Taiwan 495
24 Austria 496	24 Norway 500	24 Denmark 495
25 Poland 495	25 Czech Republic 500	25 United Kingdom 494
26 Sweden 494	26 Denmark 499	26 Hungary 494
27 Czech Republic 493	27 France 498	27 Portugal 489
28 United Kingdom 492	28 Iceland 496	28 Macau, China 487
29 Hungary 490	29 Sweden 495	29 Italy 486
30 Luxembourg 489	30 Latvia 494	30 Latvia 484
31 United States 487	31 Austria 494	31 Greece 483
32 Portugal 487	32 Portugal 493	32 Slovenia 483
33 Ireland 487	33 Lithuania 491	33 Spain 481
34 Spain 483	34 Slovakia 490	34 Czech Republic 478
35 Italy 483	35 Italy 489	35 Slovakia 477
36 Latvia 477	36 Spain 488	36 Croatia 476
37 Lithuania 477	37 Croatia 486	37 Israel 474
38 Russia 468	38 Luxembourg 484	38 Luxembourg 472
39 Greece 466	39 Russia 478	39 Austria 470
40 Malta* 463	40 Greece 470	40 Lithuania 468
41 Croatia 460	41 Malta* 461	41 Turkey 464
42 Israel 447	42 Israel 455	42 Russia 459
43 Turkey 445	43 Turkey 454	43 Chile 449
44 Serbia 442	44 Chile 447	44 Costa Rica* 443
45 Azerbaijan 431	45 Serbia 443	45 Malta* 442
46 Bulgaria 428	46 Bulgaria 439	46 Serbia 442
47 Uruguay 427	47 United Arab Emirates 438	47 United Arab Emirates 431
48 Romania 427	48 Costa Rica* 430	48 Bulgaria 429
49 United Arab Emirates 421	49 Romania 428	49 Uruguay 426
50 Chile 421	50 Uruguay 427	50 Mexico 425
51 Mauritius* 420	51 Thailand 425	51 Romania 424
52 Thailand 419	52 Miranda, Venezuela* 422	52 Miranda, Venezuela 422
53 Mexico 419	53 Malaysia* 422	53 Thailand 421
54 Trinidad and Tobago 414	54 Mauritius* 417	54 Trinidad and Tobago 416
55 Costa Rica* 409	55 Mexico 416	55 Malaysia* 414
56 Kazakhstan 405	56 Jordan 415	56 Colombia 413
57 Malaysia* 404	57 Moldova* 413	57 Brazil 412
58 Montenegro 403	58 Trinidad and Tobago 410	58 Montenegro 408
59 Moldova* 397	59 Brazil 405	59 Mauritius* 407
60 Miranda, Venezuela* 397	60 Colombia 402	60 Jordan 405
61 Argentina 388	61 Tunisia 401	61 Tunisia 404
62 Jordan 387	62 Montenegro 401	62 Indonesia 402
63 Brazil 386	63 Argentina 401	63 Argentina 398
64 Colombia 381	64 Kazakhstan 400	64 Kazakhstan 390
65 Georgia* 379	65 Albania 391	65 Moldova* 388
66 Albania 377	66 Indonesia 383	66 Albania 385
67 Tunisia 371	67 Qatar 379	67 Georgia* 374
68 Indonesia 371	68 Panama 376	68 Qatar 372
69 Qatar 368	69 Georgia* 373	69 Panama 371
70 Peru 365	70 Azerbaijan 373	70 Peru 370
71 Panama 360	71 Peru 369	71 Azerbaijan 362
72 Tamil Nadu, India* 351	72 Tamil Nadu, India* 348	72 Tamil Nadu, India* 337
73 Himachal Pradesh, India* 338	73 Kyrgyzstan 330	73 Himachal Pradesh, India* 317
74 Kyrgyzstan 331	74 Himachal Pradesh, India* 325	74 Kyrgyzstan 314

In Shanghai, China, 15-year olds placed first in all three categories – stunning experts .

The poor results for the United States are in spite of the fact that the United States spent much more per student on education than did the average of the other countries .

To get a better sense of how our 15-year olds faired, see Tables 409, 410, and 411 (in Appendix A, which show the mean scores and percentage distributions of 15-year old students scoring at each proficiency level. Table 410 for mathematics not only shows that the mean score for US 15-year olds is low, but also that our top students are performing poorly versus the top students in other countries. In fact, only 1.9% of US students scored in the top proficiency level. Compare this with 26.8% of Shanghai students who scored in the top proficiency level. Study the tables for yourself and I think you will agree that our results are not only poor, but unacceptable.

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